RFC 3041 (rfc3041) - Page 1 of 17
Privacy Extensions for Stateless Address Autoconfiguration in IPv6
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group T. Narten
Request for Comments: 3041 IBM
Category: Standards Track R. Draves
Microsoft Research
January 2001
Privacy Extensions for Stateless Address Autoconfiguration in IPv6
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
Nodes use IPv6 stateless address autoconfiguration to generate
addresses without the necessity of a Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) server. Addresses are formed by combining network
prefixes with an interface identifier. On interfaces that contain
embedded IEEE Identifiers, the interface identifier is typically
derived from it. On other interface types, the interface identifier
is generated through other means, for example, via random number
generation. This document describes an extension to IPv6 stateless
address autoconfiguration for interfaces whose interface identifier
is derived from an IEEE identifier. Use of the extension causes
nodes to generate global-scope addresses from interface identifiers
that change over time, even in cases where the interface contains an
embedded IEEE identifier. Changing the interface identifier (and the
global-scope addresses generated from it) over time makes it more
difficult for eavesdroppers and other information collectors to
identify when different addresses used in different transactions
actually correspond to the same node.
Narten & Draves Standards Track